Big Labor takes it on the chin in Wisconsin

A whole lot of Democrats had told us that the Wisconsin state senate recall elections were going to be a sign of the power of organized labor. It was going to tell the nation just how Wisconsin voter felt about his move to take away certain collective bargaining rights from the public employee unions (who had organized massive protests). And the Democrats can’t claim they lacked resources. As Chris Cillizza reported: “The recalls have essentially been special elections on steroids, with spending reaching nearly $30 million. As of a couple weeks ago, about two-thirds of that has gone to benefit Democrats, and Republicans acknowledge that they were essentially caught flat-footed by the whole thing.”

Ok, then let’s take Tuesday night’s results as a big ole mandate from the people of Wisconsin. The Democrats and organized labor lost four of six races, failing to grab the majority in the state senate. The Journal Sentinel reported:

The flow of money came as unions saw the recall elections as the best way to halt Walker’s agenda and to send a message to other states considering changing their collective bargaining laws. Political observers are watching Wisconsin to see what the results say about the mood of the electorate leading up to next year’s elections for president and Congress.

Unions played a huge role for Democrats by spending vast sums of money on advertising, and supplying manpower in all the Senate districts. Conservative groups have parried with their own influx of cash.

Next week Republicans can win back some lost ground when recall elections will be held for two Democrats who fled the state to deny a quorum on the collective bargaining legislation.

The results were predictable. Democrats cried about voting “irregularities,” but the Democratic lawmaker in the closes contest